‘We spent seven hours stuck on a train - now we're stranded in Paris with no clean clothes or a room for the night’ Shropshire couple caught up in Eurostar chaos
A Shropshire couple who had a Christmas getaway to France got stuck on a train for seven hours outside Calais and are now stranded in Paris due to the power outage that has crippled Eurostar services.
Darren and Mandy Thelwell decided to take a trip to the French capital for a Christmas break.
The pair took the Eurostar to the capital on Saturday and spent several days in the city having a “très formidable” time.
But they said things turned sour when the pair, who are from Ellesmere, attempted to return home on Tuesday (December 30)
Their Eurostar train from Gare du Nord in Paris stopped outside Calais when services were hit by a power cut that crippled the Eurostar on Tuesday.
Thousands of passengers faced hours of delays after the train operator cancelled all its London to Europe services when an overhead power supply problem and a failed LeShuttle train blocked all routes.
And Mandy and Darren were caught up in the middle of it all.
Mandy said: “We were due to travel home at 9.10am yesterday [Tuesday] and we left on time.
“They then told us we had a 90-minute delay. Hours passed and we were finally advised that we would have to return to Paris - we got back at 3.30pm.”
She said they spent seven hours on a Eurostar sitting outside Calais with no food, provisions or wi-fi signal before they headed back to the French capital.
“We had no phone signal and the wi-fi didn’t work as we were stuck in Calais for hours, so it was impossible to make any travel plans.
“We were in Plus class and they provided water and coffee but provisions were low, but we managed to purchase one bar of chocolate to share.
“We were told we would get help on our return to Paris but there was only one rude representative that advised she couldn’t help, we must wait for a link to rebook or book ourselves on a plane, which by this time were full.
“She gave us a telephone number that wouldn’t allow you to speak to anybody and then early evening we finally got the link to rebook and the first train available was 8.10am tomorrow (Thursday), so we are hoping this will run.
“We managed to spend the night back in our original hotel and Eurostar said they will compensate 170 euro a room but I am not convinced. We need a room for this evening too and as it’s New Year’s Eve it'll be more difficult to find.
“The experience was very stressful and whilst we completely understand that issues can occur, Eurostar were rude and unhelpful and it was total chaos.
“Some people may have really struggled if they were not in a position to book themselves into any accommodation.”
She says they now face seeing in the new year with no room for the night and no clean clothes.
“Our hotel is full so we are hoping to find an Ibis [hotel] for this evening, with no clean clothes.
“We would never have chosen to be here for new year as it’s too busy and expensive.”
Mandy added that the reason they took the Eurostar in the first place was because she has a fear of flying.
She added: “The moral of the story is to get over my anxiety and get on a flight next time!”
In a statement Eurostar said: “We continue to advise our customers to rebook their journey for another day if possible, with free exchanges available.
“We also advise customers not to come to our stations if their trains have been already been cancelled.
“Although outside of our control, we apologise for the disruption today and will continue to keep customers updated with the latest information and support them with rescheduling their bookings.”
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